KAMOTEK: Loftway (CD on Low Impedance Recordings)
This CD from 2005 features 58 minutes of high velocity techno.
Kamotek is John Dousk.
A compression of gritty e-perc and jarring effects pours in a relentless flow from this release, affording little opportunity to catch a breath between frenetic doses of glitchy techno. Beats come at hyperspeed, mixed with a plethora of inventively disturbing noises.
This tangled nest swims in a pool of dark textures and chords of rapid generation. Harshly growling bass pulsations surge forth like a glutinous adhesive. Sweetly resonant bell-tones provide an extreme contrast in other tracks, pinging with charm amid the snickety miasma of spastic e-perc. Other pieces feature ominous clouds of tenuous substance as a backdrop for the attack mode sonics.
There are some vocals, but these are generally buried in distortion and do not function as conventional lyrical content, acting more like alternate instruments.
Despite the overall frantic delivery and grating disposition, this music possesses a distinct humor that is inherently likable.
PRIDON: New Stein (CD on Low Impedance Recordings)
This CD from 2005 offers 25 minutes of quirky melodic electronic music.
Pridon is Petros Voudouris.
Snappy electronics are utilized to generate melodies of dreamy substance. Crisp e-perc provides a quasi illbient edge to the floating harmonics, employing synthesized impacts of mechanical disposition as the beats. Punctuations of wavering vibrations are used as mid-song breaks, allowing the music to launch into higher velocity and achieve greater intricacy. Hissy pulsations are harnessed and applied with creative intention, producing eerie moods drenched with technological ambiance.
While beat heavy, a melodic presence is very prominent in Pridon's tuneage, creating an engaging counterbalance between the techno-influenced rhythms and the contemporary electronic compositions. Unexpected tempo changes send the tunes into delightfully fresh territory before the tracks become swamped by the reemerging original temperaments.
This release is choked full of high energy pieces that provide a tinge of harmonic demeanor underneath the patter of surging rhythms. A blend of bass vibrations and shrill machinery accomplish a satisfying fusion that is highly appealing and entertaining.
ULTRE: All the Darkness Has Gone to Details (CD on Audiobulb Records)
This CD from 2006 offers 53 minutes of melodic illbience.
Ultre is Finn McNicholas.
Delicate piano streaming like a transparent foundation upon which violins burst with passionate flurry, generating a harmonic buzz that seems to unify with the understated keyboards. This tune sets the stage for a curious sonic experience.
Add in quirky guitar and cybernetic weirdness, and the music commences a determined journey deep into uncommon territory. Notes are stretched and scraped, transforming sounds into alien vibrations. Agitated percussives of an artificial nature seep through the mix, lending a strange cohesion that defies description. The guitar presence alternates from fanciful strumming to outright abuse, the latter producing a bevy of teeth-rattling punctuations that fit nicely in the overall weirdness.
McNicholas' eccentric manner of combining traditional piano with synthetic rhythms is engaging. His application of acoustic guitar to the mutant structure creates a strangely old school flair to the highly modern tuneage. The beats cavort with often erratic patterns, while the guitar and piano provide an earthy grounding for the wildly unconventional pieces.
One almost gets the feeling that McNicholas is channeling an arcane fusion of folk music with Autechre. The result is a unique peek into an alternate dimension of sound.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Exhibition #3 (CD on Audiobulb Records)
This CD from 2006 offers 59 minutes of fun chaos.
Featured on this collection are tracks by: Effacer, Nomad Palace, Rodolphe Kuffer, Build, Calika, Disastrato, Blix, Cedar A.V., Ultre, Henry Leo Duclos, Taavi Tulet, Diagram of Suburban Chaos, Marion, and Another Electronic Musician.
This release offers a variegated selection of abstract ambience, glitch, groove experiments, and acoustic weirdness. There's a fair mixture of atonal with harmonic, not to mention the presence of overtly hostile noise. Electronic bloops conspire with severe e-perc to create edgy compositions guaranteed to disturb. Other pieces throw structure out the window as they explore vehement cacophony.
Whether the instruments of choice are manhandled traditional instruments or machinery dedicated to generating unearthly sounds, the results exhibit a unity of disdain for commercial pop or rock fashion.
A decent glimpse into the subculture of musicians who aspire to agitate.
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